Feint
by IlikeSTRANGEpairings
Summary: A week before Jane and Gunther are knighted, a strange creature wanders into the castle. Jane and Jester volunteer to it to a safe home. But something is wrong. Jester is acting weird, can Jane and her friends help him before its too late? J/J
1. Chapter 1

_Hey there, this is my first fic for JatD, and my first fic in a while actually. I actually have only seen a few episodes of the show so I apologize for any OOCness and explain that it takes place a few years later so they've all hit puberty anyway so they're allowed to not act the same. Anyway, I wouldn't usually be writing a fic for a fandom I'm so new too, but I had a dream about it and this story has been in my head since then so I had to write it. Main story focuses on EVENTUAL Jester/Jane, with mentions of one-sided Gunther/Jane and Rake/Pepper._

**Feint**

Things changed greatly in Jane's circle of friends the day Jester approached them with a few whiskers or hair growing from his chin. It was a natural part of growing up they all knew, but that was the point, Jester wasn't a kid anymore. His growing beard made that clear, even Sir Ivan seemed to treat him better, like he was part of an exclusive grown up club, it was evident that while they were all the same age, Smithy and Gunther were a bit jealous that Jester was growing a beard before them, Gunther more than Jester.

But it was not long before the other boys found their beards growing, and have to deal with the hassle of managing them. The whole time the girls laughed and made fun of them for the silliness of their attempts to act like adults to match the maturity they appeared to have. Then their own changes began to happen.

Flat chests blossomed, and monthly menstruations began. Mood began bouncing like crazing, Gunther had to keep on his toes, otherwise Jane was likely to kill him in a sparring match. For Dragon the first few years were a good laugh, which once or twice almost destroyed the friendship he had with Jane when she became overly emotionally pissed.

But in the end, they survived, and so did their friendships, but even they changed a little. Pepper and Rake spent more and more time together, and Dragon teased that he'd seen them making 'kissy faces' in the courtyard more than once, to which neither commented on. But they didn't deny it either.

Jane knew that Pepper loved Rake, she'd seen it coming for quite a few years herself and couldn't help but feel immensely happy for her friend…yet slightly jealous. Jane saw how happy the two were together, and found herself longing for that kind of happiness, but she wanted to be a knight so badly she thought she'd never have time for romance.

Jester was very supportive when she confided in him about her secret jealousy. "Don't worry," he said once, "No matter what part of your heart you choose to follow, I'll always be here for you." He hugged and held her for a few minutes.

And for those few minutes, Jane knew the happiness that Pepper felt with Rake.

Then dragon flew by with big news, and Jester left her to attend to something else. Jane knew that Jester was right, he'd always be there, she could keep training and perhaps once she got her knighting, she could also know love.

Years passed quickly. She would be turning 18 in a few weeks, and by some miracle or someone's idea of a joke, the day she and Gunther would become full knights also fell on her birthday. As excited as she was Jane was also disheartened. Jester had grown distant in the last few months, he didn't _avoid_ her exactly, but he didn't spend much time alone with her anymore either, he said he had stuff to do, and to top it all off Princess Lavinia was spending a lot of time with him. Jane asked the Princess once what they did together, and the young girl said it was a secret.

Jane knew Jester wasn't that kind of man, but still it crossed her mind that maybe he had gotten tired of waiting for her.

Especially one day she saw the Princess leaving Jester's work room. She didn't want to pry or appear nosy so she knocked before entering. Jester barely had time to react, he scrambled to collect papers sprawled across his work desk, dropping his lute as he did. "Jane!" he was surprised, but not unwelcoming, "What are you doing here?"

Jane smiled, "We haven't talked in a while, I wanted to know what you were doing."

Jester's face flushed as he stacked his papers so that they were neat in his hands and he stuttered as he answered, "I-I've been b-busy," His eyes darted from her to his papers, "And you've been train so I thought-"

"-Busy? With what?" She cut him off playfully grabbing the papers in his hands, "This?" She glanced down at them, but Jester leapt across the table snatching them back in a panic.

"Don't look at that!" He shouted ripping them out of her hands, Jane cried out in pain, the paper sliced her finger resulting in a thin, but painful cut. Jester didn't take note, he was busy shoving the papers into a drawer, but the moment he looked up and saw her cradling her finger, he apologized.

He examined her finger. It didn't hurt too bad, she was just surprised. Jester pressed it to his lips anyway, apologizing a second time. Jane's face got hot. "What's up with you lately?" She asked, at his questioning look she continued, "All your 'business', the Princess, those papers-" He's never hidden anything from her before, and she'd only seen one word written across the top 'Feint'.

Jester's eyes lit up, "Oh, that. Its not what it seems like." He answered, and winked, "But it's a surprise."

"Oh." Jane laughed to herself. A surprise…for her knighting or for her birthday? She felt bad for doubting him. He pulled her into a hug, holding her against him so she could hear his heart beating. She wrapped her arms around him in return.

"I'll always be here." He promised.

_Okay this isn't the part that is based of a dream, that part actually comes later. Rating may change as this develops, but this won't happen unless you tell me what you think and ask me to continue._


	2. Chapter 2

_Thus begins the part that was actually in my dream, thanks for coming back!_

**Feint**

Jester held his hands over Jane's, applying the slightest pressure as he gave specific instructions. "Don't press on these too hard or they'll break." He said.

Jane nodded and plucked a string on Jester's lute. She'd been interested in how to play it for years, and as a fun pass time, Jester attempted to teacher her. Even if she failed horribly at it. However practice made perfect and Jane was slowly getting the gist of it.

"One more time." Jester whispered into her ear, and began to hum the melody he was trying to get Jane to play. Jane plucked the strings gently, but her hands were rough from her years training to be a knight, and just as they reached the climax of the song, she pulled a little too rough, and the string snapped. It lashed against her face leaving a small red spot on her cheek.

"Oh Skag!" She gasped clutching her cheek. Jester chuckled and took the loot out of her hands. "I'm sorry." Jane said as she watched Jester remove the broken string and lace a new one in its place.

"Don't be." Jester smiled sweetly, "You got half way through the song, I'm proud of you."

Jane blushed as he approached her again, she had to lean her head back to look into his face. It seemed like such a long time ago that they were roughly the same height. Jester reached up and brushed a stray strand of red hair out of Jane's face. He leaned down, their noses almost touch when they heard a voice outside.

"Jane! Jane!" Dragon flew by the castle looking for her.

The knight to be gave a giggle and a sigh. She loved her dragon friend very much, but he had the worst timing. "This had better be something important." She said teasingly as she stuck her head out the window, "Dragon! I'm over here!"

"Jane!" Dragon turned around and flew back toward the sound of her voice. "Have you heard? Have you heard? There's something going on down in the kitchens, a rodent infestation or something!"

"A rodent infestation." Jester repeated approaching the window alongside Jane, "Pepper would never allow that, are you sure?"

"I don't know, I haven't heard much, just that there some furry creature that Pepper wants out of the kitchen." Dragon laughed, "I was actually wondering if Jane could go check it out for me, I wanna know more about this, why don't you go with her Jingles?"

Jane laughed, 'Jingles' had become Jester's new nickname after he had grown into an adult and 'Jingle-boy' had become and insult to his manhood. "Sure, we'll go see, come on Jester!" She took his hand and lead him out of his work room where they'd spent all afternoon talking and practicing the lute.

"Hey!" Jester gasped stumbling over his feet as he tried to keep up with Jane's sudden outburst of energy. Jane only laughed as she lead him down to the kitchens, where there was indeed a growing crowd of people.

"Excuse me! Hey!" Jester and Jane worked their way through the mass, "Pepper!"

"Jane! Jester!" Pepper and Rake turned to them, revealing in Pepper's arms a bundle of fur.

Jester and Jane stared at it a moment, as did everyone who could see it. "What is that?" Jester asked.

It was about the size of a cat with thick pale brown fur, a fox-like face and large rabbit shaped ears. It had bright, almost unnatural blue colored eyes that seemed to sparkle with intelligence. It looked at the two people that approached and its eyes narrowed as if studying them.

"I don't know." Pepper said. "I came in to make lunch, and it was here. I keep trying to shoe it out of the castle, but it keeps coming back." She giggled, "Its kinda cute you know."

"And kind of creepy." This voice belonged to Gunther as he too pushed his way toward them through the gathering crowd. The creature's eyes lit up when it saw Gunther, but not in any 'cute' way, more like a malicious twinkle, like it was planning something. "I talked to everyone, Ivan, Theodor, the King, nobody has ever seen or heard of such a thing."

"What about the wizard?" Rake asked.

Gunther shrugged, "I don't know if he's heard of this creature, but he said to get rid of it."

"But…" Pepper looked down at the creature, which was still looking at Gunther, "What if I kept it here?"

"The wizard said get rid of it." Gunter drew his sword. "I can kill it if you want."

Pepper drew the creature close protectively. Jester stepped forward, lowering Gunther's sword, "Now be reasonable. The wizard said just to get rid of it, he never said kill it, and it hasn't hurt anyone. I propose we take it into the mountain and leave it out in the wild."

Pepper looked down at the creature adoringly, "There's a valley Dragon showed me once that I could take it to be safe." Jane added to ease her friend's nerves about leaving the poor creature alone in the wilderness.

"You mean it?" Pepper asked, Jane nodded, and slowly Pepper handed the creature over. "Thanks Jane."

"I'll go with you." Gunther offered.

"No, both of you aren't needed for this." Jester pointed out, "One of you will need to stay."

"But she shouldn't go alone." Gunther added.

"I'll have Dragon come with." Jane said, then looked at Jester, "If it makes everyone feel better, I'll take him with me too."

Jester smiled, but Gunther frowned. "Jane." he said, "Can I talk to you privately for a minute?"

Jane stared a moment, unsure of why Gunther wanted so badly to be alone with her, but she nodded, and took two steps closer to him, Jester placed a hand on her shoulder, "I'll take him." He offered, referring to the creature now in her arms. Again Jane nodded and passed it to Jester.

Suddenly the animal began to shriek loudly and struggle, as if trying to get to Gunther. "Whoa!" Jester held it tight and began to stroke its neck to calm it, Gunther grabbed Jane's hand and pulled her into the next room, where she could still hear the creature's shrieks.

"What is it Gunther?" Jane asked a little irritated.

"Of all the people, why _him_?" Gunther replied, at her confused blink he continued, "Jester. You could take anyone, so why him?"

Jane placed her hands on her hips. "He's my friend, I want to spend time with him."

Then Gunther did something Jane didn't expect at all. He grabbed her and puled her into a hug, the way Jester did, but not as gently. Jane felt him tremble slightly and her face got hot "Gunther!"

"What is it about him you like so much?" The other knight asked stroking her hair, "He can't fight, he can't protect you, he's worthless!"

Jane pushed him away, face red as her hair as she stuttered for an answer, "I-I don't n-need to be p-protected Gunther!" She touched the sword at her side and found her strength, "I can take care of myself. I like Jester because he always believed in me, no matter how foolish it seemed. He was always there, and always will be. Why do you ask?"

She knew the answer already, but she needed to hear it from his own lips.

"Jane." Gunther said. "I know we didn't start off on the best of terms, but we were just kids. Through the years I've seen you grow and seen that you really do have what it takes. I want to be part of your life…I love you."

Jane's face brightened again. She had to admit, she felt a bit of an attraction to Gunther, he was very attractive, but it wasn't the same as Jester.

"I love you too, but not in that way." She told him, putting her hand on his shoulder, "You'll always be a part of my life Gunther, you're one of my most important friends. I hope you can understand that."

Gunther's hands closed into fists, Jane knew that it had taken him a lot of courage to say what he did, and it had been almost as hard for her to turn him down. She whispered his name and placed a hand on his cheek to make him look her in the face, but he turned away almost immediately. "You and Jester should go." He said.

She'd hurt him with her rejection, and he didn't want to see her right now, Jane wanted to stay a little longer to make sure he was okay, but she also knew he needed space. "I'm sorry Gunther." She said once before turning back to the other room where Jester had finally managed to calm the animal. Jane looked back just one more time to see Gunther's back as he walked away.

Rake and Pepper walked them out to the stables where Smithy was waiting for them with horses. Along the way Pepper asked why Jane was blushing, which led only to everyone wondering what was making her face so red. Jane laughed and told them it was nothing. Jester alone dropped the matter, but kept a concerned face as they said their good byes and Jane called Dragon to, first off tell him the news, second lead them to the valley.

With any luck they'd be back before dinner.

Setting out on horseback things were silent but for Dragon's voice carrying down on the winds a wordless tune up in the sky. Perfect! Jane had wanted to take Jester out alone so they could talk in private, but since Gunther's confession and rejection Jane felt to awkward to talk. But the silence was even more unnerving, and the creature, still in Jester's arms, kept eyeing her, and making Jane even more uncomfortable.

"So…" She started, Jester looked over at her, and Jane's attempted at conversation passed the point of no return and she realized there was only one thing to talk about. "Back in the castle, when Gunther wanted to see me alone-"

"Did he tell you?" Jester asked, "That he loved you?"

Jane's blush was all the answer Jester needed, he rode closer to her, "I uh…how did you…?"

Jester chuckled again. "I knew it before he did. In fact I may have forced him to realize he loved you myself. I told him that you could only love one of us and we made a pact of sorts."

Jane looked at him strangely, "What kind of pact?" She asked. Surly they hadn't made some sort of rivalry for her love, otherwise she would have noticed.

Jester smiled, "We promised that no matter which of us you chose, the other would be there for you if something happen to us."

"Oh." Dragon's voice vanished for a while as he flew further ahead. Jane's eyes drifted back to the creature which was staring at her sword. She was beginning to have a really bad feeling about that thing and shifted her blade to the opposite hip out of its eyeline.

She didn't hear Jester's next question the first time. "I'm sorry, what was that?"

"I said, 'would you be happy with him'?" Jester repeated, "You know, if he courted you. Would you be happy?"

Jane didn't answer for a while. "Well…I never thought of us as anything more than rivals, and friends later…but I suppose, if we gave it time- and I didn't have you, I suppose it might have been possible to be happy with him, if he didn't behave like a child when I beat him in a sparring match."

"That's good to hear." Jester said.

"Its good to hear that I'd be happy with another man?"

Jester pulled on his reins to slow his horse to a stop. The forest got really thick further ahead and Dragon suggested once it would be easier to approach the valley by foot once they reached this point. Jester dismounted and as soon as they were both on the ground facing each other he gave his answer.

"I don't care if you're with me or with another man." He said, "I love you, and as long as you're happy, that's good enough for me."

He kissed her.

Jane expected Dragon to come flying back down through the clouds to accidentally ruin the moment, but he was still high in the sky, blissfully unaware of what was happening below. Jester's lips were soft and gentle, the taste of his mouth was warm and sweet. An eternity passed in a moment before their lips parted and Jester suggested they keep going unless they wanted to spend the night in the woods. Jane laughed, joking that it may not be such a bad idea.

It was then that Dragon finally appeared again. "Hey Short-lives! Jane! You'll miss your own knighting if you don't speed it up."

Jane took Jester's hand, "Don't be silly Dragon, the knighting isn't for three more days!"

"At most we'd be lost out here two days." Jester joked.

Dragon laughed and flew higher again, "Oh Jingles, with your hat you wouldn't be lost in here for an hour without _someone_ finding you."

Jester might have shouted back a retort, but Dragon was gone again, leaving Jester to simply shake his head. But the mention of her knighting brought a thought to Jane's head. "Hey Jester?" She squeezed his hand, "In three days when I become a knight will you tell me you're real name?"

Jester's smile dropped slightly, "Why?"

"Because you'll have lived at the castle for thirteen years and never once told me your name, and I want to hear it." She winked, "Or maybe I will court Gunther."

Jester smiled again, and returned the squeeze, "Alright, in three days I'll tell you my- Ow!" The creature squirmed and yelped in his arms, and bit his hand. Jester dropped it and it took off.

Jane wanted badly to leave it and just return to the castle, but Jester started after it, and Jane tried to follow, remembering her promise to Pepper that they'd take it to the valley, but the brush was too thick, Jester's slim body and agility made it easier for him to move through the plants, but Jane's armor weighed her down. She stopped and listened for the sound of Jester's bells. It got quiet, and a strange chill filled the air, suddenly Jane felt very alone.

Seconds ticked by, turning into minutes. Jane's heart began to pound loudly and the utter silence made every snap of a twig make her jump

"Jester!" She called with no reply, "Jester! Jester! Dragon!" Neither answered, Jane was about to get out her sword to summon Dragon with the whistle when she heard the soft jingle of Jester approaching.

"Jane?" He replied, the creature back in his arms, relieved Jane ran towards him, but as she got closer she noticed something was different. The look of freakish intelligence had left the creature's eyes its tongue rolled out of it mouth and it panted happily, wagging its tail at the sight of her. "I think he was hungry, he was munching on some berries when I found him."

Jane stared at Jester.

"What?" He asked innocently.

Jane shook her head, "Nothing." It had to be her imagination after having a little fright, but for a moment, something about Jester seemed off. No doubt once they got back on their way the feeling would go away.

As if on cue he took he hand in his. "Now, where were we?"

The contact calm Jane a bit, Jester squeezed her hand like he had before, but a little harder. "We were talking about your real name." She answered.

"Ah yes. In three days, after the knighting, I'll tell you my name."

Back at the castle a figure passed the kitchens that Pepper didn't recognize, she was about to go after him when Gunther stopped her. "Its just the wizard." He said.

The Wizard was muttering to himself, strange as it was that he'd left his tower, his mutters kept people from approaching, thinking it best to let him have his space.

"It can't be." He was whispering. "Not possible…I Killed him myself…"

_Please remember to review and tell me what you thought, or even what you guess is going on!_


	3. Chapter 3

_Okay thanks for coming back despite the lack of updating for several weeks, I've been busy._

Feint

Jester led the way up the mountain as if he knew where the valley was, despite that Dragon had once again vanished into the clouds. Jane was carrying the creature again, the change in it was impossible to ignore, more subtle was a change in Jester. He held himself straighter, and walked with stronger steps, little differences that if he and Jane weren't so close, she probably wouldn't have noticed, but every time Jane gathered up the courage to ask him if he was alright he would flash her a carefree smile that somehow eased her nerves and made her even more suspicious at the same time.

Something wasn't right, but Jane couldn't put her finger on it.

"Look." Jester said suddenly, pointing through the rocks where between the cracks they could see the valley, there was enough room for the little creature to squeeze through into the hidden valley, but there was no entrance big enough for humans for miles. Jane heard the flapping of wings and turned to see dragon arriving.

"Oh there you guys are!" He sang, "I thought I'd lost you in the woods."

Jane laughed, "You know that wouldn't happen if you didn't get lost in the clouds."

Dragon circled them with a snort, "I can't help it if short-lives like you are a little lacking in the wing department. Hmm? Got something to add, Jingles?"

Jane looked back at Jester, his eyes were narrowed as he looked at Dragon, almost maliciously, but the young man shook his head, "You're silhouetted against the sun, it hurts." He explained making Jane realize that indeed the sun was just behind Dragon and she probably looked like she was glaring at him too. Yet…Something about the way Jester hadn't answered right away…It almost seemed as if he had taken a moment too long to respond, and that the sun had provided him an excuse to be glaring…

"Jingles?" Dragon asked, setting down. "You okay?"

"I'm fine!" Jester snapped. Jane and Dragon both were taken back at his sharp reply, Jester shook his head again, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean that. I guess that hike is just catching up to is all." He gave a smile, but an uneasy one and he didn't look tired. Dragon eyed him for a moment.

"Would you like a ride back?" Dragon offered softly.

Jane smiled, "That would be great Dragon!" She answered bounding up to him, but Jester stayed behind a moment longer.

"The horses-" He started.

Jane was already seat comfortably on Dragons back as she cut him off "-Are smart enough to head back to the castle eventually. Come on Jester!" She patted the scales in front of her inviting him up. He hesitated a moment longer but climbed up a little reluctantly.

The flight back was silent, Dragon didn't even try to take any detours or pull any risky stunts with his human passengers. Something was definitely not right "Jester?" Jane asked when Dragon finally landed in the castle courtyard and they climbed off, "Are you sure you're alright?"

The court fool shook his head again, "I'm starting to not feel well, I suppose I should retire, at least if I don't want to be sick on your knighting." He offered her a smile and touched her cheek.

Jane nodded slowly as Jester turned to the stairway leading to his quarters. "I'll see if Pepper can send you up some soup!" She called after him.

Jester didn't answer.

"Jane?" Dragon whispered, "Something smells funny here."

"I know." Jane replied, "Jester's seemed a bit off since that creature took off on us in the woods…"

"Jane?" Dragon whispered again, there was a tremble of worry in his voice that did nothing for the young woman's nerves. Pepper was just coming out of the kitchen and waved to them from across the courtyard. Jane whispered back quietly, as if she were afraid Pepper would hear from this distance, and spread the worry that was starting to consume both Jane and Dragon

"What?"

"I'm not really sure that's Jester."

…

Up in his quarters he locked the door. Something Jester never did unless he was working on something really important. He also covered the window, and put out the candles leaving the crisp scent of smoke linger in the dark room. He inhaled deeply, enjoying the smoke. He closed his eyes, even though it was already too dark in the room to see and reached inside himself for his power.

And found it.

The air cracked and he opened his eyes to find blue lighting emanating from his finger tips. Unusual. His magic had always been green. He shook his head. The color wasn't important, could he still use it? He lifted his hands and short forth a blue lightning bolt where he had seen the candles, and lit them with blue flames. He smiled. The small experiment proved two things. That he could still use his magic…

And that Dragon was right, this _wasn't_ Jester.

He laughed and lied down on the small piece of furniture that the young man had called his bed, he sat upright immediately after hearing the crinkle of paper. He reached underneath him and pulled out a few sheets of paper which in the brightness of his blue flames he could make out the first few lines written in elegant letters, probably by the young man whose body he now resided in.

_Feint_

This was written in larger bolder letters across the top of the page. The next set of words were accompanied by musical notes.

_The very brightest candle of all has been extinguished._

_ Smother by those who could not bear to face reality._

_ Every beat of your heart_

_ Tore the lies all apart..._

He stopped reading at that point, and searched Jester's memory for an explanation. Ah yes. He tossed the papers carelessly to the floor. _Such romantic nonsense_, he thought to himself as he lit the entire room with strands of blue electricity. _If things go as planned no one in the castle will live long enough to hear it._

He began to chuckle as he laid back again and closed his eyes going through his plan once more before allowing sleep to claim him. He was going to need all his strength soon…

_Thanks for reading, I'll try to update this again soonish! I bet you're all desperate to find out what just happened._


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